Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
NORTHERN ILLINOIS
Falcons Gut Out MAC Road Win, 66-58, At NIU
January 10, 2004 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 10, 2004
DeKALB, Ill. - The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team picked up a big victory to open the road portion of Mid-American Conference play, with a 66-58 win over Northern Illinois University at the Convocation Center Saturday afternoon (Jan. 10).
With the win, the Falcons improve to 8-5 overall and 1-1 in MAC play, while the Huskies dropped to 5-8 and 0-2, respectively.
After trailing, 3-2, early on, BGSU never fell behind again. The Falcons led by 18 points on several first-half occasions, but saw the hosts cut the margin to as few as four points. But, the Brown and Orange had the answer to stop the Huskie rally.
Freshman Ali Mann led four double-digit scorers for the Falcons, with 18 points. Classmate Liz Honegger had 17 rebounds as BGSU held a 47-36 advantage in that category.
After Mann opened the game by hitting a pair of free throws, the Huskies' Monique Davis hit a three-pointer to give the hosts a brief lead with 1:04 elapsed. But, the Falcons would go on a season-high 16-0 run over the next 5:07.
Freshman Megan Thorburn answered with a left-wing jumper, and senior Stefanie Wenzel followed a foul-line jump shot with a three-pointer, giving the Brown and Orange a 10-3 lead. After another Thorburn hoop, Mann hit a pair of shots, including a triple, to put the Falcons ahead by 15, at 18-3.
The Falcons would build that lead to as many as 18 points on a pair of occasions, the last at 29-11, before NIU began to chip away. The Huskies scored the next six points to spark a 14-5 run to end the half. BGSU took a 34-25 lead into the lockerroom.
In the second half, a pair of layups by senior Lindsay Austin helped the Falcons open the margin to 12 points, but the hosts kept coming. A rebound and basket by Jennifer Youngblood brought the Huskies within four points, at 41-37. The lead was still four points several minutes later, when Mann made a nifty driving layup in traffic, drawing the foul and completing the three-point play. The Falcons led, 51-44, with 6:48 remaining.
Northern cut the BG advantage to five points, but several Falcon free throws were followed by a big offensive play from Honegger. After a missed shot by a Falcon teammate, Honegger grabbed the offensive rebound and banked the ball through the hoop as the shot clock expired. She was fouled on the play as well, and completed the three-point play to give the Falcons an 11-point lead, 59-48, with 1:51 left.
The Huskies got as close as seven points in the very late going, but the Falcons made seven free throws in the game's final 1:24 to salt the game away.
Austin had 12 points, six rebounds and a game-high six steals in the win, while Wenzel added 11 markers and Thorburn 10. Honegger had nine points to go with her rebounding total, which included eight offensive boards.
Lindsay Secrest led the Huskies with 22 points, including six three-pointers, while Youngblood had 13 points and 12 rebounds. Davis rounded out the NIU double-digit scorers with 11 points.
BGSU shot .323 from the field, while NIU had a field-goal percentage of .368. The Falcons' 47-36 rebounding advantage included a 27-16 lead in the second half. BGSU committed a season-low nine turnovers, including only one in the first half, while forcing NIU into 14 turnovers.
BGSU returns to Anderson Arena for the next two games, beginning with Wednesday's (Jan. 14) contest vs. the University of Akron. That game is scheduled to tip off at 7:00 p.m.
NOTES
